BRIDGE HOUSE PRE-PRIMARY PREPARATORY C O L L E G E

COLLEGE NEWS

No 7 www.bridgehouse.org.za 25 February 2011

Debating at House in London next week! Ludwe Luxande (Gr 11), Robert Moerman (Gr 12), Thabi Sebotsa (Gr 10), and Mrs Charmaine Eslick head off to London on Monday, to take part in a MUNGA (Model United Nations General Assembly) Debate at South Africa House in Trafalgar Square. Ludwe, Robert and Thabi, who are the only South African team at this event, are representing the DRC in the debate. They will join pupils from all over the world at the 22nd MUNGA organised by International Education, CYP&F, Oxfordshire County Council.

Their trip has been made possible by BEFSA, the Borien Educational Foundation for Southern Africa. The aim of this organisation is to reduce poverty through education. The Foundation, whose patrons are Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Jon Snow, works to: provide education and training for the many people of South Africa and beyond, who have been excluded, for whatever reason from learning; to reduce poverty in the poorest communities of South Africa and beyond through educational and economic development and to enable rural and township schools and the communities they serve to become agents for change, responsible for their own development. You can find out more about BEFSA and how to make a donation towards the important work of this worthwhile organisation by going to their website www.befsa.co.uk. .

Western Cape Schools Arts Festival "The arts must be at the heart of every child's learning experience if....they are to have a chance to dream and to create, to have beliefs, to carry a sense of cultural identity." -- James D Wolfensohn, former chairman of The Kennedy Centre

Last week, sixty two Grade 11 pupils made their annual trip to Artscape to attend the Schools' Festival, organised by the Grahamstown Foundation Arts Trust. They were accompanied by Ms Eslick, Mr Fuller and Ms Wilsenach.

During the two-day workshop, they took part in three creative workshops, collaborating with learners from other schools. They attended lectures and productions which challenged and entertained them. Most of the Bridge House group entered into the experience with enthusiasm and open minds.

Some of their comments were as follows:

" I found Artscape to be a highlight of my school career, and a very rewarding experience. I love drama and performing, yet my subjects do not allow me to fulfil my hobby. Artscape gave me a creative outlet and allowed me to release the other side of my personality."

"The Hip-Hop workshop gave everyone a chance to have fun in a non-judgmental place."

" I completed acting tasks I never thought I could and got over fears. These games helped me learn about myself."

" My favourite workshop was "Listen with your eyes". It was run by a group of people, most of whom are deaf. No talking was allowed during the games and all communication had to be made with body signals."

“The organizers of this Artscape experience contribute in a very real way to the cultural enrichment of the South African youth.” “I moved between exhilarating workshops in which I had to dig deep to find my inner dancer to another where I had to observe space between people and learn how to manipulate tension and rhythm.” “After Artscape, I have a much greater respect for theatre.” “We had our first performance by our guest speaker Siv, who is a comedian who grew up in the township of . He entertained, inspired and empowered, using both humour and the knowledge of one who has experienced failure and yet got up and dusted himself off.”

News from Christchurch New Zealand (before the earthquake)

Two Bridge House pupils, Gregory Glazer and Annie Farley are on exchange at St Andrew’s in Christchurch, New Zealand. Gregory sent the report below for the newsletter just before the earthquake. We are thankful that both children are safe and await detailed news about what they experienced.

I am writing this whilst on my sojourn in the Lland of the Long White Cloud aka New Zealand. It has been three weeks since I departed from South Africa, and wow, it is amazing what you can do in such a short time! When I arrived it was still holiday time for St Andrew’s students, only for one week but we managed to get a lot done. We went to a place called Akaroa which is a wonderful place with a French type of vibe. School has been great; I have decided to do Spanish as a subject which is very interesting. Everyone at St Andrew’s is very hospitable and kind. I feel very welcome. Last weekend I went to Queenstown which is a six hour drive but it was worth it. I went bungee jumping and luging which is similar to go- carting. I have been to watch an international cricket match - Pakistan vs New Zealand and, to be different, I supported Pakistan. The scenery in New Zealand is beautiful and unpolluted. (I heard White house won the gala, Prep and College - GO WHITE HOUSE!) The sport here is incredible; there are all the summer sports you can imagine! I got Man of the Match for my first cricket match here. It was a good performance by the team. All in all, I’m loving every minute here and I now fully understand what it means to say “time flies when you’re having fun”. Regards Greg

Fittest School News Victoria McCormack (right) clocked up around 130km for the Fittest School Campaign by taking part in the Hospice fundraiser held last Friday at the Franschhoek gym. She was able to donate R600 to Hospice for the five hours she spent over two days on the spinning bike and rowing machine.

Remember to log your kilometres!

Swimathon 2010

This week, fathers, mothers, staff, students and even dogs entered into the spirit of the

swimathon when they swam, paddled or spluttered their way across the pool to raise funds for the school. Sponsorship forms will be returned to pupils next week.

Read about the 4 x Ms’ Swimathon antics in next week’s newsletter

Above left: Funny men - Gr 8 pirates, Angus Macapella, Kyle Johnson, father Pirate Pete Johnson and Johan de Lange

Left: Parent, Ilse Watson, glides elegantly through the water. She swam more lengths than some of the Matric girls!

Above: Motoring Matric boys : Kris Karner, Denis Colmant and Andrew Lee Far left: Felix Rheinhold (Gr 8) Left: Pirate Pete pulled by Kyle Bottom left: the McCormack family’s Golden Retriever, Henri, did her length for the Swimathon, got her elastic band and raised R100 Below: Matric girls, Saskia and Kerstin sail along slowly.

Milton Academy Jazz Band visits Bridge House 16 – 17 March Bridge House will be hosting Milton Academy Jazz Band from Boston, USA in March. They will arrive on the afternoon of Wednesday 16 March, perform for the Bridge House pupils between 9am and 10am on Thursday 17 March in the Theatre and depart for after their performance. We would greatly appreciate it if you could help with hosting students from this group on Wednesday 16 March. We still need a place to stay for 4 boys and 2 girls. If you are able to help, please contact Mr Francois le Roux at [email protected]

Combined Schools Orchestral Festival 2011 - No.8 5 and 6 March 2011

This event has grown in success over the last seven years, generating a lot of interest amongst the 27 schools and private entries. This year we have a very healthy participation. Somerset College (performing venue) together with Bridge House (practising venue) will be hosting this year’s event. The purpose of the event is to create a practising and performing opportunity for orchestral instruments and recorders. It has been a successful event over the last seven years with many improvements. This year the format remains the same as last year except for the addition of a Saxophone Ensemble to cope with the number of these instruments. Mr Francois le Roux and Mrs Abigail le Roux will each be conducting a piece and a few Bridge House pupils will be in action.

Parents and other interested parties can enter Somerset College School grounds from 16h00 on 6 March. Entrance fee will be R50 for adults and R20 for children (children under 3 years for free). This will be payable at the entrance. There will be a supervised crèche for children three years and younger, at no charge. The audience may picnic in the beautiful school grounds under the many oak trees and gazebos. The Concert will be in the Chapel or Hall depending on numbers of participants. The concert will start at 18h00 and end at approximately 19h30.

PARENTS DANCE SATURDAY 16 APRIL

All parents, staff and friends are invited to attend an evening of great food and music.

Bring your own drinks end enjoy the magical décor of the matric dance with dinner and dancing.

R200 per person. Please get your tickets from Jenny Jones at the College reception before the end of the term (18 March).

Although this is a matric dance fundraising event, all parents from Playschool to Gr 12 are welcome.

Report on the Parent Forum Talk on “Nutrition and the Active child” On Tuesday evening 22 February, we were fortunate to have two eloquent and well-qualified speakers who covered a great deal of information on the subject of diet and nutrition in children from pre-school to college age. Karen Protheroe is a dietician, speaker and author and Dr Tracey Garner is a General Practitioner who has an integrated holistic approach to healthcare. Both ladies are mothers and are passionate about healthy families. Karen covered issues such as fussy eaters, weight management, energy management, supplements and sports supplements, breakfasts and lunch boxes. We learnt of the importance of iron in the diet of vegetarians and that a healthy diet is preferable to taking supplements although there are times when supplements are necessary. The dangers of the use of Creatine by growing teenagers were emphasised and the side effects of caffeine were highlighted. Tracey gave more detail about supplements such as iron, calcium and zinc. She discussed Ritalin, Antibiotics and Steroids and gave the many medical causes of being overweight, underweight or tired. Although the audience was small, there were lots of questions which Karen and Tracey were happy to answer. It was a most informative evening and as parents, we left inspired by the advice that “we are what we eat” and determined to listen to our children and keep them hydrated and eating well! Big thank yous go to Karen, Tracey, Jeanne Garlick for the (healthy) catering and the IT team for sorting out the technical details. Belinda Lindhorst (for the Parent Forum)

E-Mail Communication All parents should be receiving the newsletters via e-mail every week. If you are not receiving this mail, it means that your address is incorrect on our system. Please update your e-mail address by sending a mail to Jenny Jones [email protected]

No-effort fundraising with MySchool! Do you have a MySchool card? Is it linked to Bridge House and are you using it? By swiping your card at MySchool retailers such as Woolworths, you will earn money for the school. It costs you nothing and it is an easy way to raise funds for Bridge House. Every month, the school earns approximately R3 000 from this initiative and it could be much more if every parent had a card and used it. If you do not have a card please ask Jenny Jones at reception [email protected] to help you order one. This can be done online or by filling in a form which you can collect from Jenny.

Welcome - International Exchange Visitors

Above left to right: Siobhan Parry from Collingwood, in Canada and host, Kate Ferreira, Douglas Dahloff from Louisenlund in Germany, host, Lara Buys and Sophie Muhe from Louisenlund in Germany, Sophie Korsmeier from Birklehof in Germany and host Robin Lee Jagger. Host Tia-Mae Redelinghuys and Leandra Keren from York in Canada.

Left: Alejandra Pérez López from Markham in Peru with host Jodie Cuyler.

Logo competition All Bridge House pupils, including those College pupils who do not take Art as a subject, are invited and urged to enter their designs for a logo to commemorate 2011 as the year of "Bridge House - Fittest School" Size - A4, colours - red, white and blue Due date - Monday 28 Feb 2011 Questions - Mr Fuller

Sports Update

Golf Congratulations to Marteinn Kristinsson (left) who is the new 2011 Pearl Valley Club Champion, C division. He was the youngest competitor this year.

Cricket Results 1st X1 vs Klein Nederburg - Thursday 10 February 25-over match Bridge House - 142/5 (Christopher Bolton 59; Rehan Visser 46) Klein Nederburg - 70 all out (Jacques Malan 5/8 and Matthew Du Toit 3/11) Bridge House won by 72 runs

1st X1 vs Paarl Boys - Thursday 17 February 25-over match Paarl Boys 83 all out (Rehan Visser 2/6; Matt Du Toit 2/11) Bridge House 86/2 ( Rehan Visser 31; Wade Robyn 21*) Bridge House won by 8 wickets Well done, boys!

Fixtures for next week

Friday 25 February Girls’ Water Polo U14 (14:45)& U16 (15:15) vs (away). Bus leaves BH @ 13:30 Saturday 26 February Water Polo vs Oakhill (home) 08:30 U16 girls 09:00 U15 boys 09:30 1st team girls 10:15 1st team boys Monday 28 February Golf Boland league fixture vs Labori (Paarl Golf Club - Boschenmeer) Tuesday 1 March Cricket U15A vs Charleston Hill (home) Wednesday 2 March Boys’ Indoor Hockey Matches vs Parel Vallei (home) Thursday 3 March Cricket 1st team vs New Orleans (home) Friday 4 March SPORT ASSEMBLY (10:00 Parents welcome) Boys’ & Girls’ Water Polo vs Herzlia (away) Boys’ Tennis A team Boland fixtures - Franschhoek Courts @ 14:00 Boys’ Tennis B team Boland fixtures - Bridge House Courts @ 14:00 Girls’ Tennis A team Boland fixtures - Huguenot High School Wellington @ 14:00 Saturday 5 March Canoeing Junior Marathon (Century City)

Remember - Founders’ Day Saturday 12 March 09h00

Great Dane Pups

Black Great Dane pups from imported German parents. Please call Jane 0832611573

Au Pair Job Wanted Dear Bridge House parents My name is Anmari Hitchcock and I am 19 years old, turning 20 this year. I am looking for work as an Au Pair.

I was an Au Pair for two amazing boys, Morris 5 &

Bruno 7, in the Netherlands in a town called Schiedam during 2010. I speak English, and Dutch fluently. I am also experienced in working with babies and older children. I do have a driver’s licence.

Please contact me if you are interested: 0835570943 [email protected]

Carol Thorns Red Cello in the Garden 20 March, 2011 5:00pm 19 Cabriére Street, Franschhoek Concert & Auction to benefit Fleur de Lis Home for the Aged R200 Tickets: African Art Gallery, Träumerei, Fleur de Lis, FRANCO Donations for Auction & Raffle Gratefully Received Sponsored by: Reading Friends Book Club

ATTENTION: ______LOOKING FOR PARENTS INTERESTED IN FORMING A SOCIAL SOCCER TEAM TO PLAY AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK AROUND 6pm. PLEASE EMAIL CHRISTIAN [email protected] CELL: 083 459 5944

______

INFORMAL ITALIAN CLASSES & COOKING COURSE

AT A MINIMAL FEE @ PAPPA GRAPPA

COMMENCING MID MARCH

INTERESTED? MAIL US NOW: [email protected]